I am going by myself, have a mini-truck, am a girl. Would I be better off trying to get a clunker small trailer to pull behind my 4cylinder or just use a tent and reinforce it?
Can anyone recomend a certain type of tent to look for to buy?
My dad has a tent that hooks on the back of a truck that is from Cabella. May work. So new to this and didnt realize how much prep is involved. Dont get me started yet on what I need to do for a shade structure? LOL
Ok, get me started........Need that oo right? Thx!

Yes it is me in the photo :) Thought if I was going to pick everyone'a brain, I better let them see who they are chatting with. Thx for all the links. Checking them out next. Wish I could do a rv but have to watch the money since it is just me doing this. Determined though to make it work!

you'll be fine with your mini-truck, I've gone two years in my VW Passat sedan, with a passenger and all their gear too. My first year I had a cheapo 8x8 dome tent and a cheapo k-mart shade structure - both did just fine and no special skills were required for set-up, just an extra hand, which is easy to find. Duct tape, heavy duty stakes and zip ties are your best friends.

Like others suggested, find and read EVERYthing you can out there, and being a girl doesn't prohibit you from building some cool stuff for yourself. Do some extreme camping between now and then - find the windiest place possible and test your shit.

If your pulling a clunker small trailer, get a new clunker from harbor freight, or have the wheels and suspension on a used trailer checked out at a reliable shop. Electrical, hitch and all that too, but first two are the things I see fail most often. Carry a spare or two.

Backing a trailer takes practice, but here's how I describe it...

Watching the trailer, in either your rear window or side mirror. Keep your hand on top of the steering wheel. To change direction, imagine you are steering, by moving the front of the trailer(closest to you). To move the front of the trailer right, steer right...left, steer left. Think of steering a shopping cart backwards.

The smaller the trailer, the quicker it will turn, so don't over steer. Turn in quarter turn increments.

<---- solo girl. tents are marvelous things I think. They can be both a big room, and temporary house, and then just roll up into a bag. It always amazes me how big my apartment seems when I get back from a camping trip longer than a few days. The indoor space seems to go on, and on, compared to my tent. I can stand up straight, and walk around, and be indoors! Truthfully, I haven't attempted dust prevention yet by covering the mesh in my tent. Maybe I'll get around to it this year. It gets dusty in there, but I don't spend a lot of time in the tent, and I keep all my bedding, and clothes, well bagged up. I don't have any storage space to speak of at my home, but my tent and shade shelter fit into the closet in my apartment, along with all my other camp gear. Compactability is a feature very important to me. I am currently singing the praises of the North Pole Party Shade shelter, see other threads. The playa likes a rounded, or multi faceted, shape to spill wind around. Despite being branded as common, or dull, the dome tent is a great shape for the wind conditions, and most are easy to set up as well. See if you want to be able to stand up inside a tent. I insist on that feature, but it was a long line of upgrades to finally find what I liked best. I agree with Anti-M... go camping! borrow a tent, try it out. Setting up different tents is a lot of variations on the same themes. How the poles attach, where the stakes and guy ropes might go etc. Find out what your limits are for sleeping surfaces... air mattress, inflatable foam like thermarest, cot. I like a cot, sleeping off the ground at sitting height with a thermarest. do you need to cook, or do you just need to make coffee? Some may say that making coffee isn't even necessary... but that's where I draw a firm line. Self reliance means I make coffee. Finally if you don't figure yourself as a camper, why spend a bunch of money on camping gear? It has to last a week, and duct tape and rope (if you don't know knots, use lots) and kind handy types of neighbors can cobble together almost any piece of crap for a week. Certainly a tent and shade shelter can fit in a small truck, or just get a mattress and sleep in the truck, and hang a tarp off the side for personal shade. Look at pictures and see how easily it can be done.

Little Flower has mentioned it, and I agree the phenomenon that cannot be underestimated is how much fun you'll be having. This "fun" element will take all the edges off most of what you are anticipating as discomfort, or unease, from heat, dirt, wind, camping, having arrived on your own, etc. You aren't going to spend your most memorable (alright strike that, could happen...) moments in your tent. Most likely you will be out on the playa, bug eyed and giggling at everything around you, dancing, talking, and laughing.

You guys (and gals) are so much Help. I have done so much research in the past few days. I live and breathe BM now. Yes, I said I am a girl but I forgot to mention that I live on 8 1/2 acres out in the woods with bears, cougars, coyotes etc. I LOVE to camp and have all the stuff, including a tent trailer and 2 tents. My husband doesnt want me to take the tent trailer though. Scared of the dust ruining it.

Thx everyone for helping me out. I am sure these questions are getting old, right, from the newbies? Soon, I will be de-virginized. Cant wait. See you there. Hushville is looking really good so far. Talked to a guy from there tonight on the home. Very sweet man. You know who you are :)

First year I went with a friend. It was the first year for both of us. My friend had a Easy up shade structure, which was much easier to put up than thank what I used for shade. We used the original canvas top, big mistake. This was in 2004, and it was very windy the first part of the week. The winds caught it, and bent the frame pretty bad. Since I plan on going alone this year, I am planning on using an Easy up frame, but am going to put camo netting on it. I have to thank AntiM for this idea.

One of the things to think about in a tent is room to move around. I like to have headroom, and not just in the middle of the tent. The first couple of years I went, my tent was tall enough in the middle. But with the air mattress, I was usually standing over to the side when trying to get dressed. This was a pain. The tent I used was fine for weekend camping in Oregon, but not for a whole week. I also like room to store everything. When I leave camp, I usually put my folded chair and hammock in the tent.

If you want to know if your shade/tent will stand up in the wind, go camping at Beachside or Tillicum State Park in Oregon. Request a beach side camp site. Those sites get pretty windy. Just take a warm sweatshirt, because they also get cold, even in August.

Thx so much for the info. I see you are in portland. Wanna hook up for coffee or a beer sometime? Great idea about taking it to those campspots. Will do that. Trying to gather as much info as I can. Are you taking a tent or rv? Looking into buying a really small trailer for cheap off craigslist since I only have a 4 cylinder toyota tacoma. But may have to go with a tent because of costs.

1. The biggest enemy of tents on the playa is the wind, which can exceed 40 mph at times. A small tent is more likely to survive the wind than a large tent. As mentioned before, domes are a good shape for wind survival. Piling your stuff against the wall closest to the wind helps with strength.

2. A shade structure is necessary, but your best approach is to arrange something cooperative with someone else, since shade structures are for socializing as much as for protection. The easiest shade structure with adequate strength is a tarp tied firmly to the tops of two vehicles. Keep the tarp flat with respect to the wind and it won't get shredded. Anything that looks like a kite will behave like a kite.

dr.placebo wrote:The easiest shade structure with adequate strength is a tarp tied firmly to the tops of two vehicles. Keep the tarp flat with respect to the wind and it won't get shredded. Anything that looks like a kite will behave like a kite.

gypsy68 wrote:First year I went with a friend. It was the first year for both of us. My friend had a Easy up shade structure, which was much easier to put up than thank what I used for shade. We used the original canvas top, big mistake. This was in 2004, and it was very windy the first part of the week. The winds caught it, and bent the frame pretty bad. Since I plan on going alone this year, I am planning on using an Easy up frame, but am going to put camo netting on it. I have to thank AntiM for this idea.

We've used EZ-Ups for 2 years without problems. Used the original top, not canvas, but polyester. Used camo to wrap around 3 sides to provide add. shade. REinforced the legs with 3/4" EMT and 1/2" rebar.. Guy it down nicely, I also ran guy lines over the top. Not 1 problem.

Excuse me Ma'am, your going to feel a small prick._______________________________________

winebuff wrote:You guys (and gals) are so much Help. I have done so much research in the past few days. I live and breathe BM now. Yes, I said I am a girl but I forgot to mention that I live on 8 1/2 acres out in the woods with bears, cougars, coyotes etc. I LOVE to camp and have all the stuff, including a tent trailer and 2 tents. My husband doesnt want me to take the tent trailer though. Scared of the dust ruining it.

Thx everyone for helping me out. I am sure these questions are getting old, right, from the newbies? Soon, I will be de-virginized. Cant wait. See you there. Hushville is looking really good so far. Talked to a guy from there tonight on the home. Very sweet man. You know who you are

Why does someone who LOVEs to camp and lives in the woods, and has all sorts of camping gear (oh, but forgot to mention it)... post a query thread about being a virgin and oh help me please pick a tent and how does shade work I'm a girl? Sounds like you know the drill. Have a wonderful time. I think I'm through with advice for a while.

dr.placebo wrote:I found an interesting way to reduce grommet failure. Thread a rope through all of the grommets and then fasten the rope to the hard points. This tends to distribute the load more evenly.

You can also use rope to stabilize a tarp by running it from corner to corner, forming an X shape on the top and bottom. This tends to reduce tarp flap, which also reduces grommet load.

There are probably better ways to do all of this.

Or reinforce each grommet with a couple strips of duct tape, n poke a hole through said tape and grommet hole... haven't lost one yet.